The present invention relates to gowns and other garments and particularly to surgical gowns. More particularly, this invention relates to mechanisms that enable a gown wearer to aseptically don the gown on his or her own through the use of selectively inflating and deflating gas filled chambers. Such a gown could be donned by the wearer without requiring him to move his hands outside a region commonly referred to as the “sterile zone”. This would serve to minimize the risk of hand contamination prior to a surgical procedure.
As is generally known, sterile surgical gowns are designed to greatly reduce, if not prevent, the transmission through the gown of liquid and biological contaminants that may become entrained therein. In surgical procedure environments, such contamination sources include the gown wearer's perspiration, and patient liquids including blood and life support liquids such as plasma and saline.
Surgical gowns were originally made of cotton or linen and were sterilized prior to the use in the operating room. These gowns, however, permitted transmission or “strike-through” of various liquids encountered in surgical procedures. In these instances, a path was established for transmission of bacteria and other contaminants to and from the wearer of the gown. Furthermore, these gowns were costly and required laundering and sterilization procedures prior to reuse.
Disposable surgical gowns have largely replaced linen surgical gowns. Surgical procedures can require surgical gowns that exhibit total liquid repellency to prevent strike-through, or surgical gowns that are not totally liquid impervious. Whether the surgical procedure dictates the use of a surgical gown that is or is not totally liquid impervious, it is generally preferred that gown closure about the wearer's body occur at the wearer's back and not the wearer's front. In this way, the portion of the gown that overlies the wearer's chest and abdomen may be formed from an uninterrupted sheet of material, albeit that the sheet of material may itself be formed from a plurality of pieces of material stitched or otherwise seamed together.
While a continuous gown front provides improved barrier protection in the areas of the gown most likely to contact or be contacted by liquids when compared to gown fronts which are gapped or interrupted by a closure means, the barrier protection provided by the back of the gown is also a concern for health care providers, gown manufacturers and patients alike. This is because traditional closure means used in disposable surgical gowns, for example, buttons, hooks, tape, and ties, require manual manipulation in order to fasten the side panels together in back of the gown. Moreover, the gown wearer typically requires assistance in closing the back of the gown for at least two reasons. First, the gown wearer often cannot reach the closure means on his or her own due to its location and second, even if he or she could, the wearer's hands would be placed outside the area directly observable by the wearer and into areas considered non-sterile, for example behind the back, below the waist, above the neckline. Hand placement in such non-sterile areas does not conform with accepted practices for maintaining aseptic techniques. Whether the surgical gown is disposable, reusable, liquid impervious, or partially liquid impervious, there exists a need for a back closure gown that enables a wearer, without assistance, to close the back of the gown without moving his or her hands into areas considered non-sterile.